Villa de Leyva Travel Guide

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calle, Villa de Leyva

Andrew Bertram

Villa de leyva is Located some 150 kilometres from Bogota, or about three hours by car, through the nicest of landscapes. Made out of small winding streets, lined up with orange roofed white houses, and surrounded by hills, the village is a charming place to spend some time. It boasts one of the biggest cobbled-stoned squares in South America.

The Hosteria del "Molino de la Mesopotamia" used to be an old mill but has been turned into a hotel packed to the top with antiques. You can also visit the birthplace of Antonio Ricaurte and the house in which Antonio Nariño lived. The latter translated the 'Rights of Man' into Spanish and both of them became important figures in the Spanish Independence Movement.

There are a number of attractive places to visit nearby Villa de Leyva. The Iguaque National Park, for a nice walk. Ráquira is a small and very colorful town about 30 min. away, where you can find every kind of typical pottery and souvenirs. Horse riding, canoeing and country walks are very popular as the landscapes are really wonderful.

The Hosteria Duruelo with a new spa, very nice pools and a superb view may be the best hotel in town, but not the best food... Also charming are Hosteria San Antonio and Hotel San Agustín.

There are some nice restaurants in town, for pasta and italian food try El Camaleon, right on main square in Casa Quintero. For fondue, try La Gata also at Casa Quintero and for sandwiches, cakes and ajiaco, try La Mision. For lebanese fare Zarina is a good place.

HISTORY

Villa de Leyva was founded on June 12 th 1572, by Captain
Hernan Suárez de Villalobos, as instructed by the first president of the
New Kingdom of Granada Sr. Andres Díaz Venero de Leyva. Initially Villa
de Leyva was established close to the Indian Astronomic Observatory in a
place called Zaquencipá Valley, and then twelve years later was moved to
its actual location. During the colonisation, Villa de Leyva was a
principal producer of oil olive and some cereals, especially wheat and
barley. It was chosen as a favorite place for Spanish families and
especially as place to rest for viceroys.

Villa de Leyva was home of the Captain Antonio Ricaurte, a hero in the
San Mateo battle during the war of independence. The General and
President of the New Republic Antonio Nariño spent his last days in this
town. In 1812 there was the meeting of the first congress of the United
Provinces. In 1830 the construction of the road to connect Villa de
Leyva with Tunja which passed by Arcabuco began. The construction of
this road started the development of this beautiful village. In 1954
Villa de Leyva was declared a National Monument.

The
architecture of Villa de Leyva has a Spanish style. You can see in the
construction of most of the houses in the village, their wonderful
balconies, arcs and main doors (it is possible to appreciate this in the
old buildings such as Casa del Primer Congreso, Casa de Don Antonio
Narioño, Casa de La Real Fabrica de Licores, Claustro de San Agustín).
Villa de Leyva is a place of inspiration to poets and writers. They can
find peace in its stone paved streets or just contemplating the majestic
main square, unique in Latin-America.

Villa de Leyva is located at 2.143 meters above sea level, with a lovely
temperature of 18 o C and a population of 12.000 inhabitants.
Its size is 128 km 2 . Villa de Leyva’s borders are: Arcabuco
and Gachantiva in the north, Sachica and Chíquiza to the south, Chíquiza
and San Pedro de Iguaque to the east and Santa Sofia, Sutamarchan and
Gachantiva to the west.

The Iguaque’s Sanctuary of Flora and Fauna is an ecological reserve
(6.700 hectares). It is home to a great variety of native species and is
a part of the National Parks Unit. The reserve goes from 2.800 to 3.800
meters above sea level, and it is possible to see different kinds of
ecosystems like the Andean high jungle, and the Stunted Jungle which
reaches the majestic Moor called Paramo. Apart from these reasons, The
Iguaque Sanctuary is also a very important reserve of water for the
entire region. Also, it has eight glacier lakes, one of which contains
the origins of the Bachue legend.

A
variety of fossils have been found around Villa de Leyva. These have
been deemed important because of their sizes and their very relevant
contributions made to paleontological investigations. Found in 1945, The
Plesiosaurus is more than 115 million years old, and is part of the
National Geological Museum’s collection. It is also the finding place of
The Ichtyosaurus, a marine reptile that lived between 110 and 115
million years ago, which is 8 meters long and without a tail, and is
very similar to another similar specimen found in A ustralia. These
discoveries show that Villa de Leyva was emersed by the sea before the
Andes Mountains wer e formed.